If you've never lived off-campus before, we hope these hints will be of
some help.

Work out your budget carefully

To secure an apartment, most realtors will want the first and last
months' rent, a deposit (equal to one month's rent) and a fee (usually
equal to a month's rent). That adds up to a lot of money.

You can get an apartment without the realty fee but you have to
search around for landlords and realtors that provide their services
free (usually this means the landlord pays the realtor or searches for
tenants themselves). One way to do this is to find a neighborhood you
like, go around to each building and write down the owner/management's
name and phone number, and then call them all. By avoiding the realtor
middleman, you might save a whole month's rent (the fee).

You get what you pay for

There are very few genuine bargains. If something is very cheap, be
very suspicious. See what is included in the rent (gas, heat, water,
electricity).

Landlords

There can be some very bad ones, speak to the current residents if at
all possible.

Get your own apartment first

Then fill it with people. There are many more students than apartments,
so if you can secure an apartment you like, and you can afford the
deposit, then it might be worth taking a gamble that you can
fill the extra rooms.

Realtors

There are some good ones. But there are some very bad ones who will try
to coerce you into renting an apartment you don't want. Beware.

Keep your aims realistic

You probably won't get the place of your dreams first time around,
so it's better to get the first "reasonable" place rather than end
up with nothing.

Go househunting with a friend

It's a lot less pressure, and you can get a second opinion you trust
on the place.